According to Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won’t be impacted by “fame and flash” because the 15-year-old can manage the focus of playing elite cricket with ease.
The explosive teenager is now on away tours of England and Ireland with the Indian side, and there are still rumors that he may make his international debut during these T20I assignments. Having witnessed Sooryavanshi up close during the IPL, Sangakkara believes the young batsman would be a force for both India and global cricket.
“He will have many opportunities ahead, in cricket and commercially. How he balances that, and the support he gets from his family and the team, will be crucial,” PTI quoted Sangakkara telling Sky Sports.
“But one thing I can say for sure is that Vaibhav loves batting. He loves the game. The fame and flash don’t really affect him. He is very grounded and curious about many things.”
Sangakkara disclosed that the young batting star has interests outside of cricket, proving he is not a cricket enthusiast.
“He doesn’t just live and breathe cricket all the time. He has space for other things. I have no doubt he will be a force for Indian cricket, world cricket, and in franchise cricket. Mentally, he is in a good place. I think he will deal with everything that comes with fame very well,” said the Sri Lankan great.
Sangakkara highlighted Sooryavanshi’s confidence by recalling the Royals-Lucknow Super Giants game from the previous season.
“We were playing against Lucknow Super Giants. They needed to defend 220 to stay alive in the tournament. We fielded first, and as the chase was about to begin, Vaibhav was walking out to open. Before heading to the middle, he looked at me, winked, and said, ‘Coach, don’t worry. It’s done.” he said.
“Then he walked into the dressing room and told Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, ‘Listen you two, I’m going to hit 13 sixes today. After that, you just finish the job.’ He ended up hitting 10 sixes in that game.”
“Donovan and Lhuan-dre thought he was joking at first. But when he reached five sixes, they started counting down because they realised he was actually going to do it. That’s the kind of confidence Vaibhav has at just 15 years of age,” Sangakkara added.
He told how the young batting prodigy was discovered by the Rajasthan Royals.
“In 2023, our analyst Akshay sent us a text about a 12-year-old kid named Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He said the boy was incredibly talented and we needed to have a look. His coach Manish Ojha had told Vaibhav’s father that the kid was ready for the big leagues at just 12. We were surprised at first. Thought it was a joke. But Akshay was very sure, so we brought him in. Rahul Dravid was the head coach at RR then. They watched him for five or six minutes and said, ‘We have to buy this lad.’
I first saw Vaibhav during a camp in Guwahati. In a small side net, Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma were bowling with the new ball. No one wanted to bat there. Vaibhav walked in and said, ‘I’ll bat.’ The sound off his bat was like a gunshot. He took on Archer and Sandeep with ease. At one point, Archer just stopped and laughed because this 14-year-old was treating him with utter disdain,” revealed Sangakkara.
The batting coach and mentor of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Dinesh Karthik, recalls how the seasoned pace combo of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar battled against Sooryavanshi despite having a solid strategy.
“Before our game against RR, we discussed what could be a weakness for this young batter. We felt a perfect yorker or a well-directed bouncer might work. But in Guwahati, nothing worked,” Karthik said.
“Neither Bhuvneshwar nor Hazlewood could get him out, no matter what they tried. Vaibhav is one of the toughest batters to bowl to. This IPL, he was the toughest, in my opinion.”
“The margin for error was very small. He stands with a wide base and strong legs. Anything on the offside, he just throws his hands at it. In the powerplay, with only two fielders outside, it is very hard to stop him,” Karthik added.
“Outside the Powerplay, he is smart enough to stick to his strengths. He is not a one-dimensional player. He can take singles and rotate strike, and if you bowl in his zone, he puts you away.”
